


traitors never win

by borrowedthemoonlite



Series: sirens in the beat of your heart [2]
Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Arson, Childhood Friends, Company Theft, Crimes & Criminals, Exes, F/M, Partners in Crime, Song: Getaway Car (Taylor Swift), Stand Alone, Unhappy Ending, this feels like a dynasty rip off but i swear i didn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29169942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borrowedthemoonlite/pseuds/borrowedthemoonlite
Summary: It's been eight months since they've heard from each other.  Eight months since they tore it all down.  He should be the last person she comes to for something like this.  And yet, here he is.
Relationships: Beck Oliver/Jade West
Series: sirens in the beat of your heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103414
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8
Collections: Commiting a Crime





	traitors never win

**Author's Note:**

> okay hello welcome to the second part of the getaway car trilogy! this is a standalone & in a different universe, so you dont have to read the first one, but it would be cool if you did!

As of late, Beck’s found himself falling into a lull of boring routine. It’s not like he hates his life or anything, he loves his job, he loves the place he lives. But you know. He kinda hoped his life would be more exciting by now. And maybe it’s because anywhere else would be barely a buzz, compared to the noise of L.A., but maybe a quiet life is what he needs right now.

He shuts off the TV, suddenly finding the noise droning.

His phone buzzes from across the room and for a moment he thinks about ignoring it. Whoever’s texting him can save it for later when he’s not sitting on the couch in echoing silence. But then another text comes in. And another. And another. Then whoever it is, switches to  _ calling him, _ and the buzzing becomes too constant and too never-ending and he can’t stand it anymore. So he gets up in a fit and picks up the phone, exhausted.

And then he sees her name.

Jade.

Normally the standard policy on sudden and unexpected texts or calls from ex-girlfriends is to put the phone on silent and to ignore.

But it’s Jade. If she’s calling, it’s serious. Nobody holds a grudge like Jade, for something to break her silence it has to be bad. And while the policy on ex-girlfriends may be to ignore, the policy on childhood best friends is to always answer. And seeing as she was his best friend first, surely the right move is to answer.

So he does.

“Hello?” His voice isn’t sure whether it wants to come out as peeved or confused, so instead it comes out still and brittle. He hasn’t spoken to her in maybe eight months now and it just feels weird. Even if she hasn’t answered, he knows she’s on the other end.

“Are you home?” She asks without so much as a greeting.

“Yes?” It’s 9 PM and he’s never really been a night person, she knows this. But he knows she’s asking out of courtesy more than anything. Not that courteous and Jade West were ever synonyms.

“Come outside.” She says simply.

“What? You’re here?” Jade had surprisingly stayed in LA after the breakup, there’s no plausible reason for her to be in the suburbs of Seattle right now. He’s the only person she knows in the entire state, and he’d only moved there after they broke up, she’s never stepped foot in Washington state her entire life.

“Will you just do it?” She snaps impatiently. She’s the same Jade she’s always been, he sees. “Just come outside, okay? And lock your front door.”

He’s going to do it regardless, but the urgency in her voice makes him think that this is maybe serious. But before he can even ask, she hangs up the phone and he’s left with the dial tone ringing in his ear.

For whatever reason, it takes him what feels like an eternity to unstick his legs from the floor and to actually get moving, but once he starts, he doesn’t stop. He takes the most direct path he has to the front door and makes his way into the front yard. It’s silent, bar for the sound of crickets and rustling grass. He wonders what the point of her call was if she’s not even here. And part of him feels like something is going to spring from the darkness and swallow him alive.

Then he sees her. Okay, no. He sees her car. Or at least, he sees what he assumes is her car. It quickly pulls up to the curb and jolts to a stop.

“Get in,” she demands, rolling down the passenger side window.

“Am I getting abducted? Is that what this is?” He crosses his arms, forgoing pleasantries.

“No.  _ Get in. _ It’s important.” She huffs as if he’s inconveniencing her.

A please would be nice, but when it comes to Jade it’s basically wishful thinking. So he grabs the handle, opens the door, and gets in.

Almost immediately, she steps on the gas, carrying them away.

“Where are we going?” He asks. He wants to be angry. He wants to be bitter that she’s called him out of nowhere after eight months of radio silence and isn’t even being  _ nice _ about it. But that’s the catch, isn’t it? She’s broken eight months of radio silence. Whatever this is, is of some importance.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t want anyone tracking us. I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as we’re out of your neighborhood.” She replies, staring straight ahead.

Ten minutes ago he hadn’t even known she was in Washington, now the other houses and manicured lawns rush past the window as she carries them into the night.

She pulls onto a street, finally exiting the neighborhood. The street’s fairly dark compared to where they just were. The streetlamps are further apart and the bulbs haven’t been replaced in a while and a dull, deep orange sluggishly passes through the car window, giving them light for the briefest of moments before melting away behind them.

With a quick glance over her shoulder, she pulls over onto a dirt road, the car screeching to a halt. He still isn’t convinced that she isn’t about to kill him.

“I’m stopping my dad’s company once and for all. And you’re the only person who can help me,” she quickly turns in her seat to look at him.

Beck has always known that the West name isn’t one to be crossed. He knew this in fourth grade when she chewed up some kid who stole her colored pencil. He knew this in seventh grade when she gave him the cold shoulder for teasing her about some crush. He knew this in Junior year when she chased some girl down the hallways for so much as laughing at her.

But now he knows that it’s not just Jade. The West family had one of the biggest holds in the corporate world. A new money family with a stronghold in transportation and technology, the West name frantically clawed its way to the top of the business world.

Jade had never wanted to be a part of it. Never wanted a single shot at the fortune dangling right overhead. Never took a bite of the apple even though it was on a silver platter, polished, with her name carved right into it.

“You’re the only reporter I know,” she continues. “Okay, no. But every other one I know has ties to my dad or would be easily bought out. You’re the only one I know who won’t.”

And for some odd reason, he feels a flare of indignation at this. That she just  _ assumes _ he’s undyingly loyal to her. That he would still be undyingly loyal after all this time.

But she’s not wrong. He knows she’s right. She knows that he knows she’s right. And that’s the part that annoys him the most. That even though all their ties should be severed, there’s a deep-rooted history that will always anchor them to each other. No matter what they do, they’ll never be able to erase what once was theirs.

“So… What, you want me to write an expose on your dad?” He manages to keep the hurt out of his voice. He can’t tell if it’s better or worse that this is how they reunite.

“I was hoping, yes. And I could need your help with a few more things.”

She has some files from the LA office that she took before leaving. They haven’t noticed they’re gone just yet, but she’s certain by the end of the week they’ll be after her head. There’s a technician on the inside who’s been working there for five years without a single raise who’s willing to help her get the last bits of info she needs.

All he needs to do is write up the article and break the story. She has the files, she has the testimonial. He’s the last piece.

He wants to say no. To be so bitingly cruel and leave her on her own. To let her find someone else for once.

But he can’t. He just can’t. Not to her.

Maybe if he was a worse person. Maybe if she wasn’t Jade-fucking-West. He has to do it. He just has to. He remembers a day. Some time in either Junior or Senior year. She’d sworn that joining that company was the last thing she’d ever do. That she’d rather watch it crash and burn than ever take a position.

He just didn’t think she’d be the one to start it.

But she’s onto something. He can’t do a single thing, get a single job without hearing the name of her dad’s stupid company. And if she says it’s bad, then it’s bad. If there’s a story that needs to be uncovered, doesn’t he hold responsibility to help?

And it’s  _ Jade. _ Jade, who would pass him coffees in the morning. Jade, who would steal his sweaters in the winter because she’s always run colder than him. Jade, who was one of the most important people in his life until recently.

So despite the past eight months of hurt, he pushes it aside. After all, the 16 years of  _ everything else _ have to mean more.

“Listen, I wouldn’t have come all this way if I didn’t think there was something worth pursuing, if I didn’t think you could do this.” She explains, “I know I’m the worst for showing up out of nowhere, but I needed to move fast and I knew if I called, I wouldn’t be able to explain in case anyone was listening in, and then I’d sound pathetic. I needed to tell you in person.”

“I’ll do it,” he nods. He hasn’t had a good assignment in weeks and he’d hate for his journalism degree to go to waste. “Give me a date, a time, anything. I’ll do it.”

She shuts her eyes in silent victory and rushes out an incredibly uncharacteristic thanks, “Thank you. I mean it.”

Like he even has that much of a choice. It would be criminal of him to not help her after everything they’ve gone through.

She’s staying in a motel 45 minutes from here. She tells him not to call her, out of fear they’ll trace her back to him if they see they’ve been in frequent contact. This one visit, this one call, are easy enough to write off. She was in town, wanted closure with an ex-boyfriend. That’s all this was, if anyone asks. But she has a burner phone. Some shitty flip phone that was already out of style by the time they were in high school that she bought at a gas station on the way. She puts his number in it and says she’ll call when the time is right. For now, he just needs to sit and wait.

She drives him back to his place in silence. Because what else is there to say now? They’ve agreed to work together and that’s really the end of it. They’re coworkers now, it’s unprofessional to bring up whatever they had between them. So he stays silent too. Even though part of him has never felt more desperate to talk to her before. There’s no need to talk about what they both know is true.

The walk up his driveway has never felt longer in his life.

* * *

They come up with a plan. He’ll do the driving, her motel is cheap with a parking lot security camera that doesn’t even work. There’s information she’s missing, but in a week and a half, her connection’ll have it. It’s as simple as that, she’s done all the planning, he’s just the reporter. All he has to do is lie low until she gives him the signal. Then it’s go time.

* * *

But Jade moves fast. That’s always been her thing— she works hard and she works fast, she’s never been one to play around. Something she undoubtedly picked up from her family, though she’d probably shudder at the implication of any similarities.

They meet up at some run-down bar that he’s never been to but she’s somehow found in her less than four days here. It’s a testament to how little he’s branched out since he’s gotten here but that’s not his job, now is it?

The leather seat coverings crack and groan and the table sticks slightly. It’s grossly fitting for the occasion, not that they ever thought taking down a multi-million corporation would be a neat affair. 

But it’s whatever in the grand scheme of things. Besides, she has enough tales of corruption and cover-ups that the grime of the bar doesn’t seem all that bad by comparison. It’s not like he was born yesterday, he knows the truth of how the world works. He just didn’t think it would come from something so closely connected to him. Granted, Jade was the only West he was ever close with and she didn’t exactly count. Well, yes she did. But through name only.

She goes silent for a moment, staring off into the distance, a quiet yet harrowed look on her face and he wonders what it must be like to be her.

If he’s horrified by a mere two hours of recollection, he can only imagine what it’s like carrying the weight of that knowledge around for an entire lifetime. Jade had been his best friend since he was seven, they’d dated since freshman year of high school, and somehow he’d gone his entire life without hearing a single whisper of what had been going on with her family’s company. He isn’t sure if it’s due to his own naivety or her ability to keep her burdens locked away, but it’s most likely both.

It’s a ridiculously brave move from her, he understands how people get caught up in everything, how easy it would be to just lose yourself and go along with it all. But she’s always been braver than him, he would always just follow in her stride.

She looks over her shoulder nervously. Nervous had never been a word to describe her, but after what he’s heard, he gets it. No matter what picture-perfect-family image her family’s tried to keep up, he’s the root of it all.

He shouldn’t be the one helping her break the story. There are bigger names, bigger publishers. Ones that surely have a bigger audience. He tried to tell her but she doesn’t agree. Granted, bigger names would be easier to buy out, maybe she has a point. It doesn’t really change how unnerving it is. But focusing on his own fears is selfish. Especially when she’s doing all the heavy lifting. 

“I think that’s it for today,” she says, shaking her head to clear it and standing up abruptly. “I don’t want to talk about it much longer. We can pick up again tomorrow or something.”

Her sentence dies softly on her lips and the far-off look in her eyes only seems to deepen.

“Are you okay?” He asks her, following suit and standing up as well. It’s a question he already knows the answer to. Maybe it’s stupid of him to ask. Maybe he’s a damn fool. But what else is he meant to say? It’s not like he and Jade left off on the best of terms. Otherwise this would just be a long-awaited reunion between friends. But that’s not what this is. This is a bitter reunion with his ex-girlfriend brought about by obligation to the greater good. If they were under any other circumstances, they wouldn’t have seen each other

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbles, crossing her arms and staring at the floor guiltily. “I just— Maybe I should’ve started working earlier. Like as soon as I got out of college. Look at how much time has passed since we graduated, Beck. That’s so much time to let terrible things happen. If I had started earlier, maybe things would be better by now.”

He doesn’t think it should have ever been her sole responsibility.

“That’s not on you, Jade. It never has been,” he says. “You’re doing it now. And that alone is a good thing.”

“And if I’m too late? If too much damage has been done?”

Jade had always been good at handling everything she took on, but it’s possible that maybe she aimed too high and too hard this time. But at the end of the day, what she’s doing is right, what she’s doing is good. There’s no room for anyone to be shutting her down.

“Then you tried, I mean, that’s always better than nothing,” he replies. What was it they used to say? Something about wasting time but not potential? Whatever it was, he can’t remember. Granted, it was normally in reference to high school and college theatre auditions, but it seemed to work back then. Even if it made him feel pathetically helpless.

She nods at the recollection, shakes her head once to clear it, and brushes herself off, possessed by a new air about her. “You know what? I think I could use a drink right now. Care to join me?”

She brushes past any insecurity, any weakness, any vulnerability the moment she sees her armor begin to crack. Because that’s just what she does. And maybe they should talk about it

So he does. Because right now, he really doesn’t think it’s a good idea to leave her. And once again he’s reminded that under any other circumstances, a reunion this sudden would be stifling. But they both know there’s something larger at stake, there’s no room for awkward stumbling through pleasantries. It’s either they throw themselves headfirst back into the rhythm they left off on, or they drop the ball and fail. And as anyone who knows either of them will tell you, Jade West and Beck Oliver have never been quitters.

* * *

It’s a risky move, she thinks. Asking her ex-boyfriend to help her with what may be the most important thing she ever does. But something in her told her that he deserves to be part of something like this. After all, he had been there for every other important event in her life, it only feels right that he’s here for this too.

And if anything, she knows he’ll listen to her and take her seriously. Anywhere else she’d get written off as the estranged daughter of a CEO seeking revenge, and while she  _ is, _ it’s hardly the most important thing here.

It’s only been four days since she arrived in Poulsbo but she thinks they’ve made good progress. They decided that it’d be better to change their meeting place each time, that way they don’t get recognized. It’s working for them so far, she thinks.

Telling him about everything is proving to be easier than she had expected. Maybe that’s why she chose him of all people, because she knew that she’d never had any trouble opening up to him. But whatever the universe put in Beck Oliver  _ works. _ Whatever it is in him fits right in with whatever it is that she is.

And maybe it’s stupid for her to think about everything that went down between them when they’re working on something as important as this. But how can she not? It’s not like any part of this is conventional. In any way. At all.

Not that any of this would ever be easy, but she thinks it would be significantly harder without him. A lot of things in her life would have been. So maybe this wasn’t a mistake after all. Maybe this is exactly what needed to be done.

* * *

He’s never had to deal with this amount of information before. So far he’s in the roughest of rough drafts and he’s certain this might be one of his largest projects yet. But the work has never been better.

He’s never worked with Jade before. Or at least, not in this capacity. But it’s easy.

She jumps straight into her work headfirst and doesn’t give up until she’s satisfied with the day’s outcome. Her work ethic has always been admirable though so he shouldn’t be surprised.

But in the small lulls that come between them every so often, he can’t help but think that it shouldn’t be this easy. Not when it hasn’t even been a full year since they had torn it all down, furious tears and all. Maybe it’s a sign they’re moving on. Maybe it’s a sign they’re growing up. That they’re slightly different people from who they were before.

And in an odd way, she reminds him of everything he’s ever known. Of sun-ripe days illuminated by the glow of foolish and fleeting teenage dreams. Of the purest love he’s ever felt and the deepest he’s ever been loved in return. Of the golden rays of childhood memories and the jaded edges from the dramatics that come from high school. Of confessions of love in parking lots and unbroken promises made in the back garden. 

It’s been eight months since they’d split paths, and it’s weird to think that only that long has felt like an eternity apart compared to the rest of their lives.

Tonight they decide to work from his place. She says it’s quiet and that it only makes sense for him to work in his own space. So they sit on the leather kitchen stools and he writes down every word she says.

He runs a hand through his hair and exhales heavily. Working on the article, while fulfilling, still leaves him drained. It’s heavy. That might be the only word he has to explain it. The weight of it all is too heavy and he has no idea how Jade’s carried it with her this entire time.

And sure the takeout dinner breaks are nice and give them a moment to catch their breaths, but it doesn’t change how busy they really are. It’s only a momentary distraction. But the faster they get it done, the better. So they better not stray off the path too much.

But the thing about Jade is that she has a tendency to overwork herself to a fault. So he has to keep watch over her too or else they’d run early into the AM’s.

“We should have more to go off of by the end of the week,” she says, brushing her hair out of her face. “I’m getting into one of the Seattle offices that’s practically abandoned. The servers are still intact, though.”

“Oh. Okay,” he replies, because what else  _ can _ he say? He hadn’t known she was planning this, but it’s not like she had been keeping him in the loop anyways. So far, she does everything, he just writes it down afterward. And he guesses that the forewarning is nice. It’s just out of the ordinary.

He cuts them off shortly after midnight. He knows both of them, if they don’t get sleep now, they’ll push themselves until they’re three days deprived of sleep. She checks the time and hesitantly agrees. Their workday has reached its natural conclusion and she’s clearly tired.

“Hey, come on. We can finish tomorrow,” he says, nudging her shoulder.

She picks her head up from where it had been resting on his table, her eyes glassy. “No I’m awake, I swear—”

“Jade.” He says shortly, shaking his head.

“Fine.”

So she grabs her jacket from the hook by the door, and he walks her out, the moon reflecting in the puddles on the sidewalk.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? I promise I don’t mind.” He only asks because she complained about the bed at the motel earlier today. She had written it off,  _ ‘all part of a day’s work,’ _ she said. But he doesn’t think it should  _ have _ to be part of said work.

“No, Beck, you’re not giving your bed up,” she insists once again. “I’ve already asked you for too much. I can take a crappy bed for the night.”

“I honestly prefer sleeping on the couch, I really don’t mind,” he lies. Not that it’s very convincing, but at least he can say he gave it a shot.

She shoots him a reprimanding look and he knows she isn’t convinced one bit. She doesn’t say anything so that’s the end of that matter, she’s shut it down in less than two seconds.

They stand at the end of his driveway in silence, the chirping of crickets ringing through the air. He watches the sky as she drags the soles of her boots along the pavement.

“So.  _ Poulsbo, Washington _ , huh?” She raises a brow, “I can’t believe you  _ live here, _ it’s so…”

“Domestic, I know.” He mutters. He’s barely lived here six months but he’s heard it before, hell, he’d said it to himself. Out of all the people he knows, not a single one of them could have predicted this move for him, including him. But it’s where he is now.

_ “ _ I was going to say  _ quiet.  _ It’s weird to see you in a place so calm.” She knows he’s always had an affinity to loud things— he never knew why, but she used to tell him it was because they balanced him out. Maybe that’s why he’s been so bored lately, there’s nothing to balance him out. “So why’d you do it?”

Why  _ did _ he? For work? To get him out of the place he’d been for most of his life? For a fresh start? Because he liked the place? All of them are right, but at the same time, all of them are wrong.

“The moon is bigger here.” He settles on, shrugging. And it’s partially true too. It was one of the first things he noticed when he got here.

Part of him moved away for the job offers, he knows this well enough. But part of him equally knows that at the heart of it, he was a coward. A coward who couldn’t bear to be in Los Angeles a second longer with the reminders of heartbreak.

“Funny. ‘Cause  _ I _ always thought it was the same size no matter where you went,” she replies deliberately. “Isn’t that what they say? No matter how far you are from somewhere, you look at the moon because it’ll always be the same one they’re looking at?”

It oddly feels like she’s calling him out on a bluff he didn’t even know he was making. But she gives him the look she always does when she knows he’s hiding something. And maybe he is. He just can’t put his finger on it just yet.

She seems to realize that he doesn’t know the answer either because the look of accusation disappears quickly, replaced with a reserved suspicion.

“Good night, Beck,” she nods and takes two steps backward before turning on her heel and making her way down the block.

“Good night, Jade.”

* * *

She’s asked too much of him. To ask the next thing of him would be crossing a line, right? She shouldn’t.

But there’s a good chance it could go south quickly and she’ll need someone else there. Correction, she’ll need him there. So even though she probably needs to stop coming to him with every issue, she knows she’s going to do it anyway.

But it’s not like he needs to do anything except drive. If anyone’s going to have sins on their hands, it’s her. Besides, it’s her last step to getting it all done. Once it’s out of the way, they’ve finished all the heavy lifting.

Rather, she’s finished all of  _ her _ heavy lifting, he’s still got some work to do. But she does it anyway. She decides to call him anyway.

She holds her breath and waits for him to answer, the ringing on the other end ringing through her bones.

“Hello?” He picks up shortly, his voice heavy with sleep. As if he was on the verge of falling asleep.

“Can you come get me? I need you for something.” It’s late, she knows. He doesn’t do the whole ‘staying up’ thing very well, but this is the only time she can really do this.

“Is this  _ the _ thing?” He asks, suddenly sounding more awake. “Or is this another thing that you didn’t mention?”

Right. She forgot she had told him.

“Yes, it’s  _ that _ thing. You don’t even have to do anything, I just need someone there in case.” 

And it’s kind of a lie. But is it really? It’s not like she’s making him go  _ into _ the office itself.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there,” he sighs. He doesn’t sound impatient, but he does happen to sound like he knows something bigger’s coming. And he would be right. Maybe after all this time, he’s gotten good at picking up on her habits.

So when his car pulls into the parking lot, she shuts the room to her door, lugs her bag over her shoulder, and doesn’t look back.

* * *

They’re at the abandoned Seattle office. She has an old clearance badge from when her dad still had hope she would join the company in her pocket. The security cameras are disabled. She knows the location of the servers. She has the drive to extract the files she needs.

All she needs to do is actually put the plan in motion.

The parking lot is empty, bar for Beck and his car a few feet behind her, as well as the lamp posts that don’t do all that well at keeping things visible.

Nobody’s worked at the Seattle branch for three years since her dad transferred all mainstream operations to Los Angeles. But the servers are there, perfectly intact.

It’s a rookie’s mistake, she thinks, leaving them untouched. But on the other hand, she’s sure her dad never expected this from her.

“Jade? Are you okay?” She hears his question echo through the lot, shaking her from her stillness.

She nods, tightening her grip on the clearance card in her pocket. And maybe he can’t see if she nods or not, maybe he’s too far back. But what is she supposed to say?

She starts the walk to the office doors, it’s now or never, she can’t back out now. Not when it’s all been leading to this.

She swipes the card through the notch and holds her breath, waiting for the light to change.

The bulb turns green and she hears the lock unlatch, the handle jerking down, opening the door. The stairwell is down the hall and to the right, only a short walk away. She scales the stairs, there’s no use in taking the elevator when the server room is on the second floor.

She’s been here once before, when she was 9. Her dad took her and her brothers up to Seattle with him, so they could see how the business world worked or whatever. She didn’t care for it very much, but maybe now it’ll give her exactly what she needs.

It’s ridiculously cold in there because the building’s been abandoned for years and to keep the servers from overheating. But it’s what? A half hour at most? She’ll survive.

And part of her wonders if she’s going too far. Maybe she’s just holding onto her teenage-angsty disdain for her dad. Maybe she should let it go and move on.

No, she has to remind herself. It’s not just her. Someone’s gotta do something about whatever the fuck’s going on, and if she has the leg up, so be it. Yes, she’s incredibly stupid for doing it, but she’s doing it anyway.

If she knows anything, she knows that whether or not she goes through, things are going to end badly. So if the results end up the same, why not do it?

* * *

It’s hard not to be terrified as he watches from the parking lot. And logically, he shouldn’t be scared. He really shouldn’t. He trusts Jade and he knows that she has it all under control. But there’s an air about her tonight that makes the air feel just a little more suffocating than it ever has before.

But it’s all in his head. It has to be.

He’s always been the more nervous one of the two of them, and sure when they were in high school it kept them out of trouble most of the time, but there isn’t any room for it now.

He trusts her, he’s always trusted her. Sure, she can be brash and impulsive at times, but she’s never been a fickle person and when she needs to, she never delivers anything less than perfect execution. He needs to get out of his head, that’s all.

He used to be way more anxious about things back when he was in high school, but he’s been breaking out of that lately. But sometimes he still sees his old form reflected in who he is now. Maybe it makes sense that it’s come out now, with Jade and all that she brings with her.

Fuck it, he doesn’t know why he’s thinking this much. He just needs to keep his mind off of everything, that’s all. She’ll be fine, they’re in an abandoned office lot that hasn’t seen a single soul in years. And if anyone even comes close to finding them, he’ll be the first to know.

Besides, with the absence of the office lights, lamp posts, and headlights, the stars are visible. And if there’s anything he’s getting lost in, he’d prefer it to be them.

She comes bolting through the main doors after what could have been five minutes or forty five, a look of determination mixed with smug accomplishment fixed on her face. Relief comes bursting through the flood gates, and he forgets why he was even worried in the first place.

“You got it?” He asks, shouting across the lot, though he already knows the answer.

“Got it,” she smirks, “found the manual filing room too, got some things from there.”   
He lets out a noise of silent victory. Just like he called it, she never delivers anything less than perfect.

She jerks open the back door of the car, dropping everything off before reaching into the passenger’s seat and grabbing her bag.

“Start the car and get ready to drive,” she says, walking away.

“What?” He watches her in startled confusion.

“Get ready to drive, we won’t have that much time. We’re gonna need to move fast.”

* * *

She hears him start the car up. While she doesn’t think it’s possible for the starting of a car engine to sound reluctant, somehow she knows that’s what’s behind it.

There’s a fuel tank and a pack of matches in her bag. There’s been a fire burning through her ever since she decided to take all of this up. So it’s time to burn the place down.

She uses her card to unlock the door once again and sets down her bag, propping the door open. Her breath stills for a moment as she unscrews the gas cap, holding it firmly.

“Jade? What are you doing?” She hears him shout. Looking over her shoulder, she sees him behind the wheel, the window rolled down as he stares at her in incredulity.

And she knows he would never approve if she’d told him ahead of time, but he clearly knows now. , though it’s far too late for him to do anything about it. So she turns back without another word and returns to the task at hand.

Better get it over with, she tells herself. She pours the gas out, drenching the carpet, the liquid in the tank splashing with every move she makes. She’s never been a fan of the smell of gasoline but there’s something satisfying about the way it seeps into the fibers, coursing endlessly. 

Now, once she sets the fire she’ll have less than a minute to get out before it’s too late. She backs up to the doorway, taking her bag and getting ready to run. She reaches into her pocket, hand firmly wrapped around her matchbox. 

Something as insignificant as lighting a match shouldn’t be something she has to prep for, shouldn’t be something she braces for, but it is. Although she’s always been dexterous, she finds herself starting to fumble to what may be the first time in her life.

But before she can give it a second thought, rather, a fifth thought actually, she strikes the match. She crouches, setting the match to the carpet.

She waits for a moment, watches as the fire begins to spread, steadily crawling its way throughout the hallway. Once she’s certain it’s not going out any time soon, she bolts, slamming the door behind her and all but throwing herself into the passenger seat.

Her heart pounds in her chest, her pulse drumming in her ears as the adrenaline catches up to her, her chest heaving with every breath she takes in. She tells him to just  _ go, _ not to look back. And understandably, he’s incredibly shocked. But he also knows that he won’t get any answers by sitting in this parking lot. So he goes like she tells him to and doesn’t look back.

Neither of them turn on the news the next morning. Or the day after that. If it’s worked, she doesn’t want to know what people are saying about it. And if it somehow failed and the building’s survived, she doesn’t want to know either.

* * *

The next few mornings were painfully tame. Or at least, as painfully tame mornings can be for two people who’ve committed arson and gotten away with it.

Okay, no. Jade committed arson. He was a witness. And technically the accomplice. But if anything,  _ she _ got away with arson.

Emphasis on got away with.

She decided it was better for them to stay low for the moment. They haven’t seen any coverage on it, but just in case. It’s always better safe than sorry after all.

Though, Jade’s also impatient and gets bored far too easily (her words, not his), so she calls every day and doesn’t hang up until it gets dark out, something he thought they had left behind in high school. But he’s also found that people tend to revert to who they used to be when left to their own devices for too long.

“You know, we miss you in LA,” she says one night. He’s out on his balcony, staring up at the midnight blue sky. “It’s been a minute since you’ve come home.”

He’s visited only once since he moved out here, it was three months after he made the move. They didn’t see each other then, maybe it was too soon. Maybe it would’ve hurt too much.

“Yeah?” He replies, “I didn’t think it was all that long ago.”   


“Well I went from seeing you every day for more than half of my life to never seeing you. So yeah, it has felt that long.”

And he feels guilty at that, he really does. He knows it’s not her intention, that she’s just putting her thoughts out there, but he still does.

“I’m sorry, I was trying to figure everything out here. I guess everything else got left behind.” He doesn’t know why he’s apologizing. He really doesn’t. He knows she doesn’t have any qualms against him, but he feels like he should. 

“I know, I just didn’t think you’d leave LA before I did,” and for a moment she sounds sad. “But that’s how life moves, isn’t it?”

“Do you want to?” He asks, “Leave I mean. I know you always wanted to go east.”

“Maybe.” She says carefully, “It’s not like I gave up on it, I just don’t know if it’ll ever happen.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, sometimes things just fall through. There are a lot of things I wanted that never happened.”

Even though they aren’t together, the air between them falls cold, conversation coming to a stop.

And all of a sudden he realizes how late it is.   
  
“I should get going,” he says suddenly. 

He’s a coward, he knows it, she knows it. So he does what cowards do best, and he runs.

* * *

But whatever transpired the night before doesn’t seem to matter the next day because she calls him in the morning once again and they’re back to work.

And just like that, he’s in the motel parking lot, waiting for her to come to the door. He doesn’t even think he knew this motel existed until she came into town. He wouldn’t have come if she hadn’t asked him to. Not after last night. Running away from a problem only to drive straight to it the next day isn’t really his style.

But maybe she knows it’s nothing to do with her, that it isn’t personal. He’s not sure, but whatever it is, she’s moved past it too.

The door swings open and she ushers him inside.

And just like the past few days haven’t happened, they pick up right where they left off. If he didn’t know any better, he’d believe that he imagined it all. But he knows even he couldn’t fabricate that.

With the sun still in its earliest hours, he starts up again with collecting information, listening to her rattle off previously classified details from previously classified files. And just like that, he doesn’t bring up any of the things he wants to. He doesn’t tell her that throwing herself back into his life has completely thrown him off track. He doesn’t tell her that he misses her despite being less than ten feet away from her. He doesn’t tell her that he regrets how it all ended.

Those can be said another day.

Technically, he has all the information, she just reads it and makes sense of it all. He could probably figure it out, but it’s easier when she explains it.

The burner phone on her side table buzzes and she groans, reaching over to answer.

He watches as she picks up the phone, her face dropping.

“Oh my god.  _ Oh my god.” _ Her hands come up, distressingly clutching at her hair, before she turns to him. “You have to go. I’ve been made.”

She bounds over the bed, grabbing his keys and shoving them towards him. “Go. They can’t know you were involved. You drive north, I’ll drive east.”   
  
He scrambles to his feet, “What? For how far?”

“I don’t know, it doesn’t matter.” She paces around the room, “They can’t find you here.”

“Then what’s the plan? What do we do after this?” He asks. She’s had everything meticulously planned for ages. Surely she has  _ something, _ she had to have seen this coming at one point.

But her face falls as she comes to a blanching and sobering realization and she falls still, staring out the curtain-covered window.

“Jade?” He calls out her name, holding his breath in anticipation of what she could possibly say next.

“There isn’t one.” She replies, voice wavering. “Not for me anyway.”

His blood runs cold, the world coming to a still around them.

“What are you saying?” He asks. It’s an answer he doesn’t want to hear, but it’s barreling straight towards them regardless of what he wants. He needs to hear it from her, he’ll find out soon enough, but he has to hear her say it.

“I’m crashing the car.” She says softly, her face blank yet determined as the world around them screeches to a shattering silence.

He sees his silhouette reflected in the wells of her eyes.

“What?” He whispers, desperate to find that his ears have betrayed him. That he’s misheard. He hasn’t. He knows he hasn’t. But he refuses to believe it. “Jade,  _ no.” _

She can’t. She can’t do it. She can’t possibly have come to terms with it already.

“Oh come on,” she throws her arms up in devastated frustration, “don’t pretend you didn’t see it coming. We both knew we were getting into something dangerous. I always knew it was going to end like this.”

He stares at her in disbelief. So this was it, then? This was just always part of her plan? And she wasn’t going to tell him until now. When it’s already too late for him to do a thing about it. Maybe she knew he would interject. Maybe she purposely left it out of the details out of fear that he’d try to save her. If there’s one thing he knows about her, it’s that there’s no stopping Jade when she sets her mind on things. He just wishes she hadn’t put her mind to this.

“How long have you been sitting on this? This isn’t something you come up with on the spot, Jade. How long have you been decided?”

She crosses her arm as if she’s somehow surprised he would have any objections.

“I knew this wasn’t going to end well from the start, I just didn’t realize what I had to do until a few days, okay?” She admits, as if it makes it any better. At all.

And he realizes that he’s never really known her in full. That whatever parts of her he had seen in the past weeks are barely a fraction of who she is now. Everything she’s worked for, is part of a bigger picture, one that he’s barely scratched the surface of.

“You have to  _ go,” _ she all but begs once she realizes he’s got nothing to say. “You either leave now and let me do this my way or you watch them come in and practically kill me. And then you too.”

Her voice is thick with barely concealed sobs and he can barely bring himself to listen to her. He hears the words she’s saying, but he can’t possibly bring himself to do it.

“Jade you can’t,” he manages to get out and his voice sounds incredibly pathetic to his own ears. “I can’t let you do this, I can’t. I don’t know how I’d live with myself.”

And maybe it’s too late for him to be confessing these kinds of things, but he needs to let her know.

“Jade, I-” He wants to tell her that he loves her. He needs to say it one more time. He knows that when she puts her mind to something, she’ll do it, no doubt about it. She’s going to go through with this no matter what he says to convince her otherwise. But for whatever reason, the words die in his throat. He can’t get it out. 

Maybe it’s because he knows that saying it is a final goodbye. Maybe it’s because when he says it, it’ll be the last time he ever says it to her. It’s something he’s told her a billion times before, back when their biggest problems were homework and annoying rumors. High school was living hell, but he’d give anything to go back if it meant he could say it again without the weight it carries now.

And part of him hadn’t realized that he still loved her until right now. But at the same time, she’s been part of him for so long, that even though they broke up, she’ll always be an inseparable part of his life and to write it off as anything less than love would be a sin.

“I know,” she nods firmly, her face contorted as she holds in the tears welled up in her eyes. “I know. I love you too.”

She pushes forward and reaches up, taking his face in her hands and kissing him. One last time.

His hands find themselves holding onto her as tight as they can. One last time.

Her tears have finally shed, he can feel them against his own skin as they stream furiously and he swears he can hear his heart shattering, dropped on the pavement of this parking lot, pulverized into the finest powder.

Then she smiles a sad smile up at him and he forgets everything for the briefest of seconds, finding his courage in everything that she is.

“I love you,” he whispers as if he can’t believe himself. “Jade I can’t leave you. I’d never forgive myself.”

“I know,” she repeats through tears, her hands still cupping the side of his face. “You’re not leaving me, I’m telling you to go. I can’t let them get you too. You need to leave. You need to leave and get out. And then, you can write the article and make it up to me. Okay? Promise me that.”

He can’t do anything other than shake his head. “Jade, this is- No, I can’t.”

_ “Beck.” _ She says firmly. “You have to go.  _ Please.” _

His hand comes up to rest against hers as he helplessly stands there, frozen to the spot. She stares back with sad eyes that just look defeated. And he knows deep in his soul that there’s no changing her mind. But he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try.

“Jade, don’t,” he pleads. “Come with me and we can figure it out.”

“And what’s the plan for when they find us? We can’t stay like this forever.”

She steps back, bursting the solitary bubble of frozen time around them.

“You have to go now,” her voice barely above a whisper. “We’re running out of time.”

He stands by, hanging onto every word that falls from her mouth, stuck to the floor like a partially melted wax statue. She watches him pitifully, and it makes him feel a bit stupid, like he’s a fool. Maybe he always has been.

She steps forward once again, levels herself on the tips of her toes, and presses a kiss to his forehead. 

And before he knows it, she’s got him outside again and he has no choice but to drive.

* * *

He stares at his laptop, in blatant ignorance of the strain his eyes are going through. No matter how much he desperately wants to close his eyes, no matter how much they burn from the blue light, he doesn’t spare himself a break.

He doesn’t dare look at the headlines, doesn’t see if the building ever burned, he hasn’t heard from her in days, he can surmise what’s happened by now. So he keeps up his end of the promise to finish what she started and works himself to the ground.

* * *

She’s buried in her family’s plot somewhere in Hamptons. An uncharacteristically ornate headstone marking where she lies, her family pretending like nothing ever happened. That she was the perfect daughter, that they were a perfect family, that she was the golden child poised to take over the next generation of workers at the company.

It’s bullshit. They all know it too.

He’s only been able to make the trip out there once. 


End file.
